Homeward Bound: Dog Travels for 2 Days to Meet His Owner

Somehow, dogs always find a way to wiggle into our hearts before we even know it. But sometimes, we wiggle into theirs without us even realizing how much. This was the case with a foster dog named Hank, a white German Shepherd.

Hank was sent to a temporary foster while waiting for his long-term foster to become available. He spent 6 days with Rachel Kauffman, a veterinary technician with 2 pups of her own and another foster dog in addition to Hank.

Rachel said they bonded very quickly. He would follow her around and be very attentive to everything she did. I can only imagine how cute he would look sitting at attention, watching her every move, ears perked, having head quirks at every new sound; talk about adorable!

Hank the dog was then sent to his new long-term foster family to be treated for heartworms and to get healthy before he was able to be officially adopted. The new foster family left Hank safe and secure in the house while they went to run errands. When they came back, he was gone.

Apparently Hank is more than your average dog. He was able to somehow unlock and open the door! Talk about one smart and determined cookie.

From there, the dog traveled 11 miles in 2 days to make it back to Rachel, his owner.

They say that there were numerous sightings of Hank along his journey and on one Tuesday morning, someone spotted Hank just a few blocks from Rachel’s place. The person followed Hank to see where he was headed only for him to walk up to Rachel’s front porch and make himself right at home.

Remember, Hank only spent six days with Rachel. Six days! Apparently, Hank the dog found his new mom and wasn’t about to leave her. Talk about a bond built between the man and the animal.

Dogs will never cease to amaze me. I think people underestimate them all the time. Many of them refuse to sit if you don’t have a treat, their normally perfect hearing turns into selective hearing, they forget how to behave when playing with other doggie friends, they lose their minds when someone knocks on the door, etc.

However, you have to remember they can also detect bombs, detect drugs, detect if a person has cancer, can predict if a person is about to have a seizure, help the impaired, save lives, and in some cases, travel for 2 days to get back to someone they love.

If you are interested in fostering a dog, try contacting your local animal shelter. Fostering has its upsides: obviously, the main one is giving the dog a better chance at finding a forever home.

Also, if you take in a foster dog, you are freeing up that space for another canine in the shelter so that we can save more of them. But there are also some downsides to adopting a shelter dog: health of the dog, possible damage to personal property, clean up, emotional attachment, etc.

When you foster, you are agreeing to take a homeless dog into your care, give him or her love, attention, new home and much more until the dog is adopted or for a predetermined amount of time.

As a foster parent of a dog, you're helping the canine socialize to make him or her a better candidate for adoption and you are learning the dog’s true personality so you can help the shelter find him a happy hope. If you are interested, contact your local shelter, fill out an application, and if you are approved, they will help you find the best foster dog for you.

I don’t know who is luckier in this case, Rachel or Hank. Rachel found a new dog-child and Hank found a forever home with not only a mom, but siblings as well.

Kelli is a practicing Licensed Veterinary Technician and a lifelong animal lover who regularly works with pets. On top of her professional dog experience in the veterinary field, Kelli has also worked in a dog boarding facility since 2012. Kelli is also taking care of two rescue dogs of her own, a Border Collie mix and a Westie mix.

Even when you trust your dog’s boarding facility explicitly, even when it’s pristine, well ventilated, and temperature controlled, there’s a possibility that your dog...

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